clothing company

Since we are starting a business, we need to create a budget for it. According to Joseph Benoit; a business banking executive for Union Bank N.A. “the importance of having a budget cannot be overstated. Creating a budget for your business will provide a guideline for expected income and expenses and enable you to compare your anticipated financial goals with the actual numbers.” (Benoit) So creating a budget is very important for a new business in order for to be successful and continue operating in the future. Our goal in this project consists of several departments combined to make a small profitable business. Our business is a clothing business; making cloths and selling them. Every department records expenses and generates revenues, so we need to keep track of financials, but first we need to make a budget for our small business.

Princess Culture

Something that really got me thinking in class was the superhero and princess cultures, more specifically the Toddlers in Tiaras videos. While we were watching the video clips of that show in class I couldn’t help but be disgusted. I had never heard of this show prior to our class and could not believe that parents would push their kids so hard to be more like an adult. Growing up my parents wanted me to have as much fun as possible; they just wanted me to be a kid. Parents shouldn’t push their kids to grow up so quickly. One may argue that the girls really like being dressed up like this. Of course they do the attention they get must be great for them. They are getting to look and act like the stars that they see on TV and movies. I’m sure they would like a glass of wine too so they can feel older but that’s not right either. Where are the dads in all of this? I want a daughter someday and although I know I’ll make some mistakes, I would not allow my daughter to leave the house looking like an adult dancer and I can’t believe other parents would allow this. I’m getting worked up just thinking about it. It may just be a show scripted to appease a dull audience and it could all be fake for all I know, but I still can’t imagine dressing a little girl, or boy for that matter, like an adult and pushing them to flaunt themselves.

Red Bull Stratos

Most of the projects I saw from this class were really good and actually kept my interest throughout. One of the videos stood out to me. The “Red Bull Stratos” video where Felix Baumgartner jumps from 120,000 above ground and sky dives for a half hour was one of the most inspiring videos I’ve seen. During the video I got goose bumps. Watching Felix plunge himself into space with no certainty as to whether or not he was going to make it back to earth alive was incredible. As someone that is afraid to fly in an air plane my stomach was in my throat when he stepped to the ledge of his capsule. I cannot imagine having the courage to make such a dive. I think this dive will be good for our country. In the 60’s, so I’ve read, our country competed to be the first ones to land on the moon. Whether or not that ever happened is beside the point. I believe when the United States said we made it to the moon, the country had to feel somewhat patriotic. It has been too long since our country band together in competition, or just in the name of scientific advancement to be the first to do something so extravagant. Baumgartner was Austrian but the jump was made in New Mexico. I am excited to see what kind of advancements we will make next. I really hope they keep coming up with things like this to keep our country coming together and getting excited.  

Minorities in Media

In my groups project we made a video that expressed our discontent with racism in the media. I didn’t really get a chance to express my personal opinion so I thought this would make for a great chance to say how I feel.  It is obvious that there is so much racism in our TV shows, and all over the media, but a lot of this racism is just fabricated. Most shows consist of a cast of white people and one or two black people. If it is a thriller or a horror film, I have no doubt that the black cast member will be the first to die. It is that predictable every time I watch these types of shows or movies. It is not right that they have the black person die first always, and it is not right that they usually don’t have that many lines. It may be a problem but really, I think people sometimes make things worse than they really are. I think people cast a crew with white people and maybe one black person because that what they experienced growing up. I personally only have one or two black people that are my friends. It’s not because I don’t enjoy black peoples company or because I’m a racist but instead because I have only really known one or two black people growing up.  So shows that cast with only cast with one or two black people are shows I can better relate with. I don’t think the writers are trying to be racist; it’s just what they’ve experienced.

Culture of Cool

The class discussion about “being cool” and “hipsters” was one of my favorites this year. There are people that are really obsessed with being cool. Most everyone is guilty or following trends, even when they don’t know it. When I wake up in the morning I do not stop and think if everyone will think what I am wearing is cool. I am however influenced by what other people are wearing and what I think looks “cool.” I certainly am not making any statements with my jeans and t-shirt! There are people however that want nothing more but to not fit in. They wear clothes simply because it’s different and they want to be a non-conformist. I’m glad this was discussed in class because I’ve always felt that at some point when enough people are trying to be different, that different is the new cool. It’s ironic that individuals try so hard to be different but don’t realize they are actually falling right into the same trendy trap as the rest of the world. I don’t have a problem with people who try to be different and I think a lot of their styles are really trendy. I do wish people would just try and be themselves rather than try to impress other people. Being yourself is probably the “coolest” thing people could do if it’s wearing the trendy clothes that people are wearing on TV, or wearing exactly the opposite. The world would be a lot more interesting if everyone were to express their own individuality.

popular cultures attention span

ESPN is one of my favorite channels to watch. There is information given all over the screen and you can find what you want to know in a moment’s notice. During Sports Center, an hour long news broadcast with only sports, a broadcaster may be talking about football. While they are talking there is a program on the side that lets you know what they will be talking about next. Lastly, there are scores from the games the day before, and schedules for the current day. All of this information coming at once is great because I can always find what I need to know whether I’m listening to the broadcaster or I’m reading the scores at the bottom. I think this is becoming a trend in our culture to want as much information given to us as possible. Even though it helps make things quicker, I think it may be bad for our attention spans. If I don’t have a lot of information coming in at once I just get bored. Another example of why I think people are more likely to watch faster paced shows now is because of Netflix. I love the Walking Dead on AMC, but I cannot sit through a whole episode on Sunday nights with commercials. I prefer to watch Netflix where I can watch my shows as quickly as possible and right after I can watch another episode. I prefer that the episode and the plot are fresh and new. I’m glad I have all of these options for my viewing pleasure, but I do think the fast pace style in which we have access too could hurt our cultures lifestyle as much as it assists us.

Racism in Media

I was looking through my childhood belongings over break and found a few power ranger figures in my mum's basement.  Later that day I was on google looking up the show that I loved so much as a child.  As I typed in the search bar the most ridiculous thing pop'd up it said "Power Rangers Racist".  Now not seeing this show since I was a young lad made this line seem ridiculous, until I did some more research.

I never noticed that all of the power rangers actors matched their power suits.  Zach the Black guy had a black suit.  The girlie girl had a pink suit, Asian the yellow suit....  The red power ranger was a native american.  It is almost to much to handle and is quite strange they got away with it.  The white ranger ended up being the leader.  I just can't believe it took me till I was 21 years old to realize how bad it really was, I guess ignorance is bliss

Has anyone else felt this way about the power rangers?  I still am in some sort of shock over it.

What a Fantasic Class!!

As class comes to a close I must end with saying a couple of things. First of all this has been one of the most enjoyable classes I have ever had. I think we were well warned, but I feel as if we live in this  "We now know your secrets media, you can no longer trick us" bubble. And as I scroll through Facebook I notice the Ads on the side and think "What the hell, I WAS just looking at Rob Kardashian socks on Nieman Marcus's website, how creepy!" then I think "Kristen warned us about this!" For that I am very wary of Facebook and to be honest I have a they are out to get us conspiracy now. I really love how much this class really has to do with our every day lives and thinking. We were all able to truly voice our opinion whether that was in class, the blog or Twitter. Although at some points I think our topics of discussion were hard for some people to talk about I think, my eyes were really opened to new ideas. One of the most popular examples that we use in class and I think that most of us can really see in our society is the Princess culture.I have noticed lately when my friends post pictures of their babies with "Mommys little Princess" on the top of the babies shirt  it makes me very irritated inside. I will no longer be able to sit down and watch TLC again with out thinking of this class. I have quickly realized that I am addicted to HORRIBLE television shows. From one about a hillbilly family who has too much time on their hands to one about women who dress up their children as adults throw them on a stage and force them to dance like a "good princess would".  So although I might have become a little insane, that's okay because now I understand pop culture.

Mass Murders and Media.

Link to Video

Kids + Branding

One of my favorite topics we covered this semester was branding and how we teach children to recognize brands and how they create their own style through their life from these brands. Corporate America are no fools when they target virtually anything towards kids because most parents will spend whatever amount of money to keep their children happy. So basically the money is in the child’s hands and at their disposal. As a child, I can remember dozens of times my mother would take me and my siblings or our friends to McDonalds to eat a cheap meal and play in the big area. I also remember McDonalds having the beanie baby toys in their happy meals and I would collect them, so I was one of these corporate America children begging my parents to take me to McDonalds so I could them all. To this day, as unhealthy and disgusting McDonalds food is, I go there the most frequently probably because I created a loyalty long ago with McDonalds therefore I choose their cheap, nasty product above their competitors. I remember watching the video of kids and brands in class and being shocked at how little they were yet they knew so many of these brands. The more I thought about it the less shocked I felt because these kids are active spenders in the market. From birth they are exposed to these brands and their symbols so by the time they can start talking it is not shocking that kids are able to figure out which symbol means what.

Female Friendships

Click me

Election Night 2012- Media Mayhem

Link to video.

Gender Roles in Jersey Shore and Guys with Kids

The Catfish Epidemic

James Riley, Matthew Perry, Shane King, Dawn Stump, Kolleen Whitford, Kourtney Cooper

Video Project: Hostess

Group Video - Culture of Cool

Click Here for the video!

Group Project: Social Media Addiction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or08vsMy5gg&feature=youtu.be

Twitter and the Election

https://vimeo.com/54318581

Reality Television in Actuality

THESIS: Reality television is a solely profit-driven spectacle that exploits its subjects by promoting itself as "reality" when it is, in fact, fictional.

Group Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpK-9XgcAx8&feature=youtu.be